By Tedler D. Depaynos, MD
Reducing weight to most individuals desiring to is usually just a dream. Especially after the holidays where a series of parties and family reunions occurred, many simply indulged in the tempting aromatic and well presented food. Even those who were aware medically that partaking of those lechon, pinapaitan, roasted pork and beef, etc., is bad, simply forgot their medical conditions and joined the wild eating and reasoned out that anyway it is for the rare occasion. For in the first place, why accept the invitation and be a kill joy by not eating and not tasting the spirits offered? To some non-open minded hosts, they may even consider the behavior of accepting the invitation and not eating an insult!
I could remember a friend who joined a get together who started eating by removing the small meat particles added to his “pancit”. He was religious in his belief of not eating meat but his action was not accepted well by our host. It was the last invitation he had!
To avoid the expected increase in calorie intake, obviously one has to try avoiding parties. If it is a very special occasion that one cannot miss, maybe giving gifts to the host like a cake or a bottle to make up for your hastily made alibi to leave might help. You can then pick two or three of the tempting dishes and leave early due to some made up reasons. Of course emphasizing your medical condition and naming precisely your good medical adviser who may scold you for not following his/her instructions may appeal to their understanding.
Reducing is not an overnight affair. It is not like taking your super strong analgesic and overnight with a refreshing sleep your headache or even joint pains disappear. It would not take days or weeks or even months for that unwanted bulging tummy to disappear. Whatever weight reduction method you are following, it would take many, many months to really achieve and feel the desired results. And to maintain the good figure that comes out, it may take a lifetime of following diligently your method. In short your mind should be conditioned for a long time lifestyle of weight reduction.
Reducing weight is not simply reducing your calorie intake and making your body consume them more extensively. It should be done scientifically! Some starve themselves punishing their body and proudly displaying their malnourished look. I could also remember a friend who starved himself for a week which made him land in the hospital!
Looking at them closely if not for their smiles and proud humor, one may conclude that they may be suffering from an undiagnosed serious malady like uncontrolled diabetis or advanced cancer. This is observed in individuals who aspire to lose weight within a very short period of time. There are various valid reducing methods published in books, some written in newspapers and some even shown on TV and the internet. Some would just say that they reduce by limiting their rice, fats and refrain from sweets or chocolates and they eat more veggies and fruits. They even adapted to unsugared coffee and to Pale Pilsen Lights! I guess one has to follow what he thinks is suitable for his lifestyle. But the best so far is a gradual reduction and consistency in following one’s method.
Making your body consume more calories is simply increasing your activity or exercise. I envy those individuals who have time to exercise like running daily or dancing the Zumba and advertising it in their FB. You could see them almost every day in their tight fitting running suits with practically no bulges at all displaying themselves proudly along busy Session Road. Some with less busy time could schedule their basketball participation, tennis, golf games or weight lifting once or even twice a week. For those who are simply too much occupied because of valuable work and family time they could commute when their vehicles are under coding so they would be forced to walk. Instead of taking the elevator or escalator they could take the stairs even two at a time to compensate for their lack of activity. They could detour their walk spending more minutes along the way instead of spending it sitting down in front of their desk killing time. In all the activities one has to undergo, however, make sure that your heart and lungs and even your joints could tolerate them. A pulled muscle or even a sprained ankle and worse a sudden heart failure may immobilize you. This is especially true for those aged retirees who suddenly went into extreme and prolonged exercises for suddenly they had time. I suggest they visit their favorite doctor first especially those taking advertized drugs that would allegedly burn your calories or prevent the absorption of food you had taken in.
Just like eating, exercise entails a lot of discipline. Without self-discipline all methods of weigh reduction would fail. Hence weight reduction is a lifestyle. To help achieve this, it is recommended that you form a group with the same objectives. You could exercise together, fellowship together and could compare the results of your sacrifices together.
I could still remember one of our mentors who thought us our basic surgical skills mentioning his secret not only once but several times throughout the years in maintaining a non-bulging tummy and obviously good health. He had always been consistent with his lifestyle of vegetable diet or less meat. Added to this was his regular tennis and sometimes badminton exercises. In retrospect, he had always been revealing his secret whenever we were indulging in too much food to indirectly advise us to control our calorie intake. We failed to realize it for quite some time because of the overwhelming joy of uncontrolled eating which we occasionally still do until now. Throughout the years he was very disciplined. Our dreams. **
